THE TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH should be self-explanatory, an ordered ranking of twenty albums that’d resonated most throughout this month. If you’re new to the site, the tendency is heavy and/or surreal music. Choices are selected based on temporal immersion, personal connection, impressive style, point of view, aesthetics and with consideration for the lasting value of each selection. All choices are ultimately personal and come without consideration for populism, nepotism, cronyism, or any outside factors including perceived “relevance”. Writing about music is a passion I afford as much time as is manageable and I am grateful to have so much to choose from. Thank you.

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I. This month on MystificationZine.com included 25 longform album reviews, 24+ video reviews/features, 33 short album reviews. As much as I try to cover there is a vast, vast number of overlooked releases that are yet worth seeking out. I’ve included the total Top 20 items since folks asked for a list this time around.

II. List season is coming up. Nothing But Black Metal November will aim to post once a week, sub-genre specific lists (“Albums you Missed in 2024” series) are being put together and some might arrive later in the month. There’ll also be some weekly short review columns too, since there is so much to keep up with.

III. In 2024 written reviews will now have a video component which will post at the bottom of each review or feature at the end of each week (Thursday or Friday) If you enjoy these please consider following on YouTube. We are hovering around 1,100 subscribers and I’m grateful to have so many people interested.

III. As always I’d like to express my gratitude for the bands, labels and PR firms who choose to work with me. Thank you.

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20. LIVING GATE – Suffer As One (2024) | REVIEW
19. WOLVES’ WINTER – The Medivm (2024) | REVIEW
18. ORYX – Primordial Sky [Translation Loss Records] [Short Review]
17. MERCYLESS – Those Who Reign Below (2024) | REVIEW
16. DEATHRITE – Flames Licking Fever (2024) | REVIEW
15. BÜTCHER – On Fowl of Tyrant Wing (2024) | REVIEW
14. RECKLESS MANSLAUGHTER – Sinking Into Filth (2024) | REVIEW
13. ATARAXIE – Le Déclin (2024) | REVIEW
12. MOTHER OF GRAVES – The Periapt of Absence (2024) | REVIEW
11. ELEPHANT TREE / LOWRIDER – The Long Forever (2024) | REVIEW

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#10
ARTIST:	BLACKEVIL
TITLE:	Praise the Communion Fire for the Unhallowed Sacrament
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dying Victims Productions

Though I think folks will appreciate the creativity and render of Bütcher‘s latest album more readily there is some mastery available to this third Blackevil record where similar fonts of black, thrash, speed and epic heavy metal factor into the whole of the experience. Better yet every song on here counts, they’re all different from one another in shape or statement and reveal an eclectic, very capable underground troupe who’ve made a sound which is increasingly their own. It is near impossible to stand out in the realm of black/speed metal anymore but I’d felt like these guys have something special going on here, tapping into potential that could sustain ’em for years and albums to come.

“Reveling in their third blessing by fire, armed with broadly set taste in tradition and splaying their efforts into a seven-headed beast of an album Bavarian black/thrashing speed metal trio BLACKEVIL take notable steps here in generating variety and impact within the seeming impenetrable realm of blackened heavy metal. As a third third full-length album ‘Praise the Communion Fire for the Unhallowed Sacrament‘ is appropriately polished, considered from all angles yet still breaks through their pro-level craft with venom and vigor. “

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#9
ARTIST:	SERPENT COLUMN
TITLE:	Tassel of Ares
RECORD LABEL(S):	Self-Released

Though I am still in the process of considering and reviewing this unexpected return of Serpent Column it is clearly a special bout of streaming consciousness which regrabs the stoic riffcraft of their first record and hurls it into a set of epics which feel like a doubled and tripled-down pair in scope before it ends. ‘Tassel of Ares‘ isn’t just about the riff though, the ‘epic’ nodes here are contemplative and atmospheric in their voice which often feels like a pair of guitars conversating in tragedian tongue. I’ll have a review of this, short or longform, up sooner or later.

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#8
ARTIST:	SEDIMENTUM
TITLE:	Derrière les Portes d’une Arcane Transcendante
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dark Descent Records, Me Saco Un Ojo

This Canadian death metal band have a flawless track record so far between an insane moss-bursting, grave ripping demo tape, a gnarled and lunging debut LP, and now this doomed and sprawling EP which I hope is where their general trajectory is headed from here. Sedimentum hit that much harder when they’re leaning into low and slow riffs and extending their atmosphere out to funeral death/doom level reach while still keeping it death metal with shades of USDM and Finndeath when the pace sparks up. Plus hey, that logo is awesome. I liked the previous one but this one is completely nuts and compliments the album art well.

“Fresh exposure of the mysteries and sinister methodologies from behind the funeral veil of death’s decaying face manifest three doorways to doom on this latest mLP from Québécois death metal quartet SEDIMENTUM. Growling from the abyss-mouth into the outstretched ear with deafening gravitational hurl ‘Derrière les Portes d’une Arcane Transcendante‘ finds the band at this most patient, profoundly stated apex where the taut and bizarro density of their craft now loosens into experting strands of riff-and-rhythm intensive ‘old school’ death and doom-toned muse.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#7
ARTIST:	GIGAN
TITLE:	Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus
RECORD LABEL(S):	Willowtip Records

Technical/avant-garde death metal trio Gigan have returned after about seven years and all they really had to do upon return was be themselves, to hit that weirding sci-fi bizarro level of Gigan-dom fans’d want. And for sure they still sound like themselves, but the thing about this record is change has brought some extra dimension to their gig both in terms of deeper experimental songcraft/composition which veers into the abstract towards the mid-end portion and general production values which begin to find a more organic drum recording and space which also allows more room for vocal expression which isn’t walloped by the brilliant guitar work through and through.

“From condensed, erratic box-cycled formations toward jag-cut kaleidoscopic reel Chicago, Illinois-based technical/avant-garde death metal trio GIGAN arrive steeled for celestial volatility before steadily spiraling out into surrealistic expanse as this much anticipated fifth full-length album reintroduces the cosmic horror-hammer and lysergic revel they’ve long developed. An increasingly transformative sensation spilled across the last ~eighteen years, the brain wrinkles which guide ‘Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus‘ offer psychic reinforcement of general characteristics alongside some considerable alchemic abstraction, a continuation of the grand alchemic experiment. “

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#6
ARTIST:	AÇOITE
TITLE:	Revanche! Hecatombe!
RECORD LABEL(S):	Duplicate Records, Black Hearts, Cianetos Discos, et al.

These Brazilian folks tap into one of my favorite ‘old school’ death/thrash metal headspaces and reference (even bringing in legendary guests from) some of the best Brazil’s long history of extreme metal while also putting their own spin and energy into it. Açoite aren’t the most precise or polished band or whatever but their energetic attack and maniac approach works up to the right level that it sounds classic, feels like it hits the mark and cuts the cord for a concise and diverse showing. If you don’t get the reference sure, it might not be as much of a thrill but for my taste these guys have managed a damned entertaining whip through these songs.

“Striking open the crypt with a vengeance only sated by shattered bones and pyre-bound conflagration São Paulo, Brazil-based death/thrash metal band AÇOITE offer raw and rotten flesh in sacrifice to the old gods on this well-improved yet highly authentic sophomore full-length album. Old school thrashing death down to their marrow these fellowes have done well to study the 80’s South American extreme metal ways and translate them into their own sound, their own maniac form on ‘Revanche! Hecatombe!‘.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#5
ARTIST:	ABERRATOR
TITLE:	Beckoning Tribulation
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dark Descent Records

I don’t think I’m misrepresenting the climate of terror and death that Aberrator achieve here on thier well-formed debut when I suggest it is organically brutal, attaining a realistic feeling death metal sound which is unreal and wild in its performances and tainted deeper by dark nihilistic themes. There is a ruthlessness here which feels shot out of the blue not only in how well-formed their work is, bearing no obvious shortcuts or falsities, but also in the damning shape it creates in its greater arc.

“With all perceived immanence picked clean from the bones of civilization’s purpose and a lost fascination with transcendence following fast the suffering of mankind only intensifies with every disaster that follows as New Zealand-based death metal trio ABERRATOR trace paths of human self-destruction toward impending doom on this debut full-length album. Persecution, war and death’s drive harass the senses as ‘Beckoning Tribulation‘ illustrates the lure of the end as callous, tormented upheaval of a predatorial species through bestially charged and impossibly dark-doomed death metal nausea.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#4
ARTIST:	ABHORRATION
TITLE:	Demonolatry
RECORD LABEL(S):	Invictus Productions

Where are you going for riffs this year? Yeah, of course Chile but otherwise take a look at all the completely rad riff-cutters coming out of Norway these last several years at a quality-over-quantity deal. Abhorration might sound pretty damned familiar but it just doesn’t hurt, they’re out-blazing damned near everything else in sight in terms of picking up a guitar and digging up a killing rhythm at an insane rate. I could name drop a few dozen old classics, reference some songs off ‘Altars of Madness‘ and all but to the right audience all that matters is that this album is a nuclear event when it comes to riffs.

“Scraping the sky loose of its burning ozone and hailing down widespread possession, the black-winged and bone-fingered death touch of Oslo, Norway-based death metal trio ABHORRATION moves in familiar ways but brings its own fastidious maniac verve to classicist forms on this impressive debut full-length album. At ~37 minutes in length and chopped into six songs ‘Demonolatry‘ presents reasonably immersive, stunningly energetic possession as they present hard-hit songcraft which finds the band twisted, freely whipping and gnashing throughout their exploration of the riff.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#3
ARTIST:	SHAARIMOTH
TITLE:	Devildom
RECORD LABEL(S):	W.T.C. Productions

Each record from Shaarimoth is different or at least advanced to a new exceptional standard and potentially appeals to a marginally different niche audience depending on the nature of the release. Their first and now this third album lean a bit more directly in the death metal realm, allowing for some continuity roughly two decades apart but also ramping up the original conceit of the band from a long developed highest possible standard. ‘Devildom’ is brilliant not only for its atmospheric sound design but how that soundscape matches up with aggressive dark death metal violence.

“Entrancement spread across the experiential demesne of the endless dark finds no lumine borne from foreboding aphorism and rare doctrine incanted, an impassible iniquitous reality which frames the heady spiritual gush of Egersund, Norway-based blackened death metal quartet SHAARIMOTH‘s exposition with diabolic liberation, a confrontation which is unexpectedly direct to psyche yet nonetheless corporeal in its impact. A physically electrifying whip through finesse-loaded death metal of the highest order the band’s third full-length album, ‘Devildom‘, is at once a brilliant standard and a third hinge upon which they pivot their devotional craft where boundaries are less important than the impact of defiantly personalized, singular craft.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#2
ARTIST:	ORANSSI PAZUZU
TITLE:	Muuntautuja
RECORD LABEL(S):	Nuclear Blast Records

With each release this ever-changing form continues to sprawl into self-directed challenge, increasingly free form with each step. At first glance I’d almost felt like Oranssi Pazuzu had lost the plot but the more time I’d spent with ‘Muuntautuja‘ the more I’d wanted to take that trip again. There is an irresistible bounding elasticity to their signature grooves and even when they’ve mauled this record with noise and the bleakest reaches of space I definitely just wanted to go back there and sit with it time and again. Its rad that they still sound like nothing else, of course, but the fact that they can go to such an extreme and still make music worth listening to of it goes above and beyond.

“Sculpted from oozing wires and engineered flesh, slicked with black oil and anointed with lysergic diabolism these seven frames captured of the shapeshifter mid-dilemma represent avant-garde psychedelic black metal quintet ORANSSI PAZUZU pressing their bodies against the gears of invention and merging into their roles as bio-mechanic antagonist cinematographers, challenging the psyche of the listener with each unconventionally set scene. Directing the lazing, normative ear away from comfort into grotesque existential horror this sixth full-length album from the band, ‘Muuntautuja‘, greys out the will of the individual in smearing shades of black noise and electro-obsessive craft which produces signature detail and texture without the need for wild coloration.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#1	Album of the Month
ARTIST:	COSMIC PUTREFACTION
TITLE:	Emerald Fires Atop the Farewell Mountains
RECORD LABEL(S):	Profound Lore Records

A great forward-thinking death metal album most often acts as a twist of the aperture in either direction, an unveiling which allows a more vivid capture of the potential of the sub-genre or a dampening focus which allows less light in, making for a darker more honed venture. In the case of this latest Cosmic Putrefaction record the tunnel they’ve carved out feels as if it is a bolt of dark energy siphoning said light, a catalyst to spark an imaginative plane of obsidian landscapes and transcendental images built from elaborate prose. Eh, and it is way heavier, more thoughtful and engaging than much of the extreme metal 2024 has delt thus far.

“A third Dantean suite once again finds our protagonist portal’d, transcending to a new upward-shot layer of enlightening chaos and comforting reflection as this fourth full-length album from Milan, Italy-based technical and progressive death metal project COSMIC PUTREFACTION further acknowledges the unknown celestial sea as a realm of infinite experiential possibility, be it mind-scarring dread or overflowing inspiration. One step toward the allure of the horizon allows one additional meters’ depth of field, maddening the inquisitive mind with a new possibility to investigate per each grinding moment of existence. In the case of ‘Emerald Fires Atop the Farewell Mountains‘ the apex cannot escape its designation, a goal at the peak persists ’til it becomes a launching point, a fresh wormhole toward infinite corridors of death and dementia-inducing muse.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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